Rubyclaire - another pantry project . . .
Tina Marie
3 years ago
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Another Day, Another Plan to Review..
Comments (21)Custom -- unique -- those can be euphemisms for weird and bad. While this house contains some nice features, it also contains some bad ideas that will not live comfortably -- things no one's going to like in real life. And it is expensive in ways that don't help the looks or efficiency of the house. - The entryway has a barrel vault that leads into an arch . . . and beyond that is a coffered ceiling . . . and then you have another arch off to the left. These are all expensive, showy ceiling features -- but having all of them within arms' length means they will "compete" with one another. One feature of good design is that it contains "enough" . . . without going overboard. Note that your inspiration plan contains multiple coffered ceilings, but it doesn't mix and match ceiling features. Repetition in design creates a sense of harmony. - On the subject of arches -- I love them and wonder why people aren't building them anymore. But they're an expensive feature, and I would never spend the money to build one between the kitchen and the mudroom, especially since it's tucked behind the kitchen cabinets and would literally only be seen as people come /go from the house. Unless your budget is genuinely unlimited, put your resources in spots where they're going to show. - I agree with the poster who mentioned the difficult turns necessary to enter either of the secondary bedrooms. If the aforementioned elderly relative needs a walker or a wheelchair, this will be difficult. It would be easy to move the door to the smaller bedroom to an easier-to-access spot. Will this relative live with you all the time? If so, he or she will probably need more than an 11x11 room with a small closet -- could you happily move all your personal effects into this room permanently? I ask because this was a MAJOR FIGHT with my easy-going grandmother only a few years ago, and she NEVER got over having to get rid of so much stuff. I agree with the poster who suggested making the larger office room a bedroom for the elderly relative. - An ADA bath in a 9x9 space. Is that possible? Okay, it's possible, but I mean, is it possible to do it well? - The master bath is large but contains SIX DOORS. Stop and visualize six doors in this space. The master bath is also laid out poorly: When you walk in, your sightline is the corner of the shower. And the toilet closet is tiny and cramped -- backing into a 6' deep closet and scootching over to the side so you can close the door (plunging yourself into darkness) won't be comfortable. Why plan two sinks in such a small vanity? It means you'll have no drawer space. What is the dry area in the shower? What is keeping it dry? Note that when you walk into the bathroom, you'll have to close those double doors and reach behind them to turn on the light switch. With all this space allotted to the master bath, you can absolutely have something better than this. - The great room is a positive ray of sunshine in an otherwise chaotic plan. Ditto for the foyer. - The odd extra hallway (containing a butler's pantry?) near the dining area is wasted space. Why would anyone walk through this hallway when the foyer is literally two steps farther away? - The kitchen doesn't work on any level. It's huge, but everything is so far apart! Your "major players" -- the sink and the stove and your prep space -- are all disconnected from one another. Why would you want your ovens in the dining room? Look at the floor plan and imagine yourself going through the motions of preparing one of your favorite meals. Likely it's going to include too many "walk across the kitchen" trips. I think you're falling for the oh-so-common idea that a BIG kitchen = a GOOD kitchen, and that is axiomatically false. An EFFICIENT kitchen = a GOOD kitchen. - What you're calling the Hearth Room could be an incredible dining room, and it's completely wasted as a sitting area. Because it is connected to the great room, it has no privacy and serves no purpose as a separate room. - The table, in its current position, is blocking access to the kitchen and the Hearth Room. Imagine squeezing by either end once chairs are in place. - If you move the sink in the mudroom to the same wall as the washer/dryer, you will save significant money. Why? Because you'll limit your water needs to one wall. That means only one wall needs to be thick enough to run water, and the plumber only has to work on one wall. I don't love the island in the middle of this room. This is a storage room / a pass-through room. The island actually creates a barrier. - I personally dislike the "friends' entrance" concept. I'm making the front door nice. I'm arranging guest parking to encourage people to see /enter through the front door. I'm setting up a table for purses/keys, etc. I don't want people traipsing in through the back door where I'm storing plastic bags, recycling, and dog food. And if this is a "friends' entrance", for whom is the front door? Enemies? I don't invite them over. - I agree with the posters who say most rooms are over-sized. You could easily reduce most rooms by 25% and still have comfortable spaces. The exceptions are the two secondary bedrooms, which don't seem to fit in with the rest of the sizing. - The hallways could be vastly reduced, and that could make up the price difference you mentioned -- you need the foyer hall and the two small halls to reach the bedrooms, but the giant freeway running through the middle is just expensive wasted space. I do like the inspiration plan's connection between the mud room and the hallway -- it promotes good flow in two directions, without being over-sized. Were you the poster from a couple months ago who loved hallways because of a wall treatment you saw in a model home's hallways? - A garage sticking out on the front doesn't make for a very attractive exterior. - You're going with a basement AND a bonus room over the garage? I'd pick one or the other, which would eliminate one staircase -- do not underestimate the cost of a staircase. Actually, staircases cost in both money and square footage. Either a basement OR a bonus room will give you a secondary living space. Again, this house has some redeeming features, but they are so buried under the oddities and mistakes that it's hard to find them. I vote for a fresh start. This post was edited by MrsPete on Thu, Sep 11, 14 at 18:21...See MorePantry project finished!
Comments (24)Ohhhh, it makes me so happy to know that some of you are motivated to re-do your own pantries! Today that little voice in my head has been saying "WHY didn't you do this years ago?" Only one thing I would change: I'd make the shelves on the back wall just a little wider - say maybe 10" instead of 8". But no more than that - heck, I can go into my pantry and turn around if I want. I can even go into the pantry and shut the door if I wanted. It's great to walk *into* the pantry to get something. Ann, my pantry space measures 3'10" wide and 2"10" deep. By leaving the left side wall free of shelves, it seems so much bigger than the actual measurements. Plus, I put in hooks on that wall to hold 2 strainers, 1 stir-fry(wok) pan, 1 bread basket, an oval roasting pan and a ceramic hook beside the door facing to hold 3 aprons. There is room for the broom on that side also. I could still put some hooks up high if I want more. Another thought, my guys used melamine covered shelves with iron-on melamine stripping on the front edge...no painting and easy to wipe clean when necessary....See MorePantry Project Completed
Comments (12)Yes it thrills me to the bone. Like my closet, whenever I open my pantry door, I just smile. As you can see, I still have a lot of stuff, but still have empty drawers and shelves. My carpenter was great. Once we got the design down, it was done in 4 days. I just had to get my painter in and then wait for that to dry before I could put my items back in. In the before pictures, it was pretty standard builder grade and shelves were sagging due to the weight. The cost for my carpenter to pull out all the old shelves, build everything from scratch with real wood shelves, drawer pull-outs, vertical storage, raising the upper shelves (non-functional before since they were about 3 feet tall and could only hold a layers of items and making the shelves deeper cost about $950. Well worth the cost. I think I am going to have him tackle my garage next. I just have the find the energy to clean out that catastrophic area. LOL...See MoreAttn: CEFreeman: Trickle down remodel: new pantry cabinets
Comments (3)CEFreeman I love free money--I call it play money and remember my brother and me riffling Monopoly play money and feeling so rich when we were little. Enjoy rewarding yourself. Yep, that's what I paid. I bought the shop vac from Amazon Warehouse Deals for $80.95, I think, with no tax or shipping plus a $10 off coupon from DeWalt through eBates (also thanks to you). So, a great deal for $70 when/if I get my rebate. (The vac is officially ''used'', but the sales slip doesn't say that. Maybe the rebate will go through. It isn't really used, just a returned sale.) Amazon Warehouse Deals listing for Shop Vac: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0000CCXTN/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1345489243&sr=1-1&keywords=dewalt+shop+vac&condition=used The vac is great. Easy to carry around. I added two extension wands to make it work even better as a dog hair picker upper. No bargain on them--just Home Depot....See MoreTina Marie
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3 years agoTina Marie
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3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoTina Marie
3 years ago
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